SRL Sends Stout Line-up to “Snowball Derby”

Bakersfield, CA – In just two weeks, qualifying will be held for one of the biggest races in the country, the “Snowball Derby” at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL. We would like to wish the best of luck to our SRL competitors heading to the event. Three series champions and two race winners will make the trip to Florida.

Derek Thorn leads the list of SRL competitors heading east for the big event. Thorn is a six-time SRL series champion and a former winner of the “Snowball Derby” as well as a four-time Fast Qualifier. He has also won the “Snowflake 100” for Pro Late Models twice. Thorn has 11 starts in the prestigious event, garnering four top five finishes with six in the top 10. He finished a disappointing 26th in last year’s edition, after running in the top five for most of the afternoon. He is the all-time laps led leader at the “Derby”, with 1,049. Thorn is also the all-time leader in wins with the SRL, taking home the checkered on 59 occasions.

Jeremy Doss will make his ninth trip to the “Snowball Derby”, qualifying into the “show” in all but his first appearance. Doss’ race day luck has been absent however, as the 2018 SRL champion has yet to crack the top 10. The 2023 Blizzard Series champion at Five Flags Speedway does have three finishes in the top bakers dozen and has qualified as high as fifth in 2017. He qualified seventh in 2020 and has shown good speed at the half-mile oval. Doss has 12 wins in the SRL and two championships in the Spears Modified Series. He added a championship in the inaugural season for the Spears Pro Late Model Series in 2021.

The 2024 Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series champion Buddy Shepherd will make his inaugural visit to Five Flags Speedway and the “Snowball Derby” next weekend. Shepherd is coming off a two-win season with the SRL and just edged out Blaine Rocha for the title, winning the “October Classic” at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway (CA). Shepherd has five career wins in the series, but limited experience back east. He attended two “All American 400” events at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (TN), running near the front in both, before issues ended his days early. The 2018 “Winter Showdown 300” runner-up will look to make a big splash in Pensacola on the eighth of December.

Two-time SRL winner Jace Hansen will make his fourth trip to Pensacola for the “Snowball Derby”. Hansen had a best finish of eighth in the 2022 edition, while finishing 27th last year after a crash ended his day. The Greeley, CO racer made the field through the Last Chance Qualifying Race in his inaugural “Derby” in 2021 but qualified directly into the field in 2022 and 2023. He had a best effort of 11th in 2021. Hansen was a winner at Colorado National Speedway (CO) and Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in SRL competition. He also scored a victory with the Spears Modified Series in 2024 at his home track in Colorado. Hansen will be a Super Late Model prepared by Preston Peltier Racing.

Oswego, OR driver Kole Raz will make his second trip to the “Snowball Derby” and third trip overall to the 1/2-mile. Raz finished 20th in his inaugural “Derby” last year, after coming home 11th and 15th in his first visit to Five Flags Speedway for a Southern Super Series double header in September. Raz made the field on time for his first Derby, after drivers such as Derek Kraus, Carson Hocevar, Jack Garcia, Sammy Smith, and Carson Kvapil failed to make the show. Raz scored his first SRL victory last August, when he came home first at Colorado National Speedway. Raz was the 2021 SRL Rookie-of-the-Year, coming home fifth in the championship standings. Raz is coming off a Super Late Model win at the Bullring at LVMS a month ago. He also holds a “Summer Showdown” win at Evergreen Speedway.

Best of luck to all our series competitors. We will post updates on their progress throughout the weekend.

Celebrating its twenty fourth season in 2024, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.

PC: Paul Shafer Motorsports, SRL, Jace Hansen, Horsepower Project by Michele Martin Photography